INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE

Pacific Coast Area Manager

Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
Date: February 22, 2012
Elise F. Green
100 Congress Avenue, Suite 1100
Austin, TX 78701
Department of the Treasury
Person to Contact:
Telephone Numbet.
The enclosed material is furnished to you under r.he provisions of a power of attorney or orher authorization you
have on file with us. For your convenience, we have listed below the names of the taxpayers this material relates to.
If you have any questions, please contact the person whose name and telephone number are shown above.
Enclosures:
[XJ Letters
r I Reports
[ I Otl1er
Organization's Name: PROGRESS TEXAS
Sincerely yours,
LOIS G. LERNER
Director, Exempt Organizations
Letter 937 (DO)
2
Name: Progress Texas
If we don't hear from you by the response due date shown above, we will assume you no longer want us to
consider your application for exemption and will close your case. i\s a result, the Internal Revenue Service will
treat you as a taxable entity. If we receive the information after the response due elate, we may ask you to send
us a new application. '
We have sent a copy of this letter to your representative as indicated in Form 2848, Power of 1\ ttomey and
Declaration of Representative.
If you have any questions, please contact the person whose name and telephone number are shown in the
heading of this letter.
Sincerely yours,
Exempt Organizations Specialist
Enclosure: Information Request
Letter 131 2 (Rev. 05-2011)
3
Name: Progress Texas
~
RETURN THIS PAGE WITH YOUR RESPONSE
Please read the Penalties of Perjury statement on page 1 above. Then, please sign and date below, indicating
you agree to the Declaration.
Name Date
Additional Information Requested:
PLEASE SEE ATTACHMENT
PLEASE DIRECT ALL CORRESPONDENCE REGARDING YOUR CASE TO:
..
US Mail:
24000 1\vila Road, Mail Stop 3000
Laguna Niguel, Ci\ 92677
Street Address for Delivery Service:
Internal Revenue s, .... ,;r,
24000 Avila Ruad, Koom 4308
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
Letter 1312 (Rev. 05-2011)
T.,temal Revenue
24000 A vi! a Road
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
Date: February 22, 2012
Progress Texas
P. 0. Box 2114
i\ustin, TX 78701
Dear Sir or Madam:
Department of the Treasury
Em lo er Identification Number:
_ f'erson "L.unract _ _.
Contact Telephone Numbers:
Response Due Date:
March 15, 2012
We need more information before we can complete our consideration of your application for exemption.
Please provide the information requested on the enclosed Information Request by the response due date shmvn
above. Your response must be signed by an authorized person or an officer whose name is listed on your
application. Also, the information you submit should be accompanied by the following declaration:
Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this information, including
accompanying documents, and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the information
contains all the relevant facts relating to the request for the information, and such facts are
true, correct, and complete.
If we approve your application for exemption, we will be required by law to make the application and the
information that you submit in response to this letter available for public inspection. Please ensure that your
response doesn't include unnecessary personal identifying information, such as bank account numbers or Social
Security numbers, that could result in identity theft or other adverse consequences if publicly disclosed. If you
have any questions about the public inspection of your application or other documents, please call the person
whose name and telephone number are shown above.
To facilitate processing of your application, please attach a copy of this letter to your response and all
correspondence related to your application. This will enable us to quickly and accurately associate the
additional documents with your case file. Also, please note the following important response submission
information:
Please don' t fax and mail your response. Faxing and mailing your response will result in unnecessary
delays in processing your application. Each piece of correspondence submitted (whether fa..x or mail)
must be processed, assigned, and reviewed by an EO Determinations specialist.
Please don't fax your response multiple times. Faxing your response multiple times will delay the
processing of your application for the reasons noted above.
Please don't call to verify receipt of your response without allm.ving for adequate processing time. It takes
a minimum of three workdays to process your faxed or mailed response from the day it is received.
ORGANIZATION: Progress Texas
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
NOTE: Your response to this letter must be submitted over the signature of an authorized
person or of an officer whose name is listed on the application. Also, the infonnation you
submit should be accompanied by the following declaration:
Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this information, including
accompanying documents, and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the
information contains all the relevant facts relating to the request for the inf01mation.
1. Please submit statements regarding educational, work and philanthropic backgrounds of
the organization's officers, directors, board members and trustees.
2. Please provide infonnation as follows pertaining to each of the organization's officers,
directors or trustees:
a. Please describe the duties that each individual perfom1s for the organization.
b. Other than serving as an officer, director and/ or board member for the
organization, please provide the names and addresses of each individual's
employer/business, the nature of their employment/business, and the nwnber of
hours devoted to their employment/business.
3. Other than the CDst Sharing Agreement submitted with Form 1024, please submit
co i e ~ of .any other written leases, contracts or agreements entered into by the
orgamzatlon.
4. Wtll anyone use the organization's facility other than for the purpose of directly carrying
out its work? Will any of the directors or employees reside and/ or work (e.g. not related
to the organization's activities) at the facility? If so, explain fully. Please fully explain if
the owner of the facility is related to the organization and/ or its officers, directors, etc. in
any way other than as landlord?
5. Please submit complete copies of the organization's financial statements and balance
sheets for the following periods:
a. Fiscal year ending December 31, 2011, and
b. Period covering January 1, 2012 through Present.
6. Please provide copies of board meeting minutes since the organization's inception.
7. Please provide copies of agendas and/ or descriptions of topics covered at each of the
organization's general meetings and events since inception.
DATE: February 22, 2012
8. Please provide copies of materials distributed at each of the organization's meetings
. . .
smce mceptton.
9. Does the organization have a website? If so, please provide its website address and
complete copies of the organization's web pages and action alerts from its website.
Please also ensure to include web pages that are accessible only to members.
10. Please provide copies of all of the organization's promotional material.
11. Has the organization distributed or will it distribute materials or conduct other
communications that are prepared by another organization or person? If so, provide the
following:
a. Please provide details of this activity.
b. Please provide the names of the individual(s) and/ or organization(s) that prepared
the materials.
c. Please submit copies of materials and contents of the communications.
d. 'When and where the distributions have been conducted or will be conducted?
e. 'Who has distributed or -w-ill distribute the materials?
12. Is the organization a membership organization? If so, submit the following:
a. Please indicate how many members the organization has currently.
b. Please fully explain what the organization's memberships consist of (i.e. individuals,
businesses, organizations, etc.).
c. Please provide a numerical breakdown of members in each membership class.
d. Please provide a complete copy of the member application/ registration fonn.
e. Please provide the membership agreement and rules that govern members.
f. Please provide a membership fee schedule.
g. Please fully describe the requirements for membership.
h. Please fully describe what services and benefits are available only to the
organization's membership.
1. Please fully describe the members' roles and duties within the organization.
13. The anachment to Part II, Line 5 of Form 1024 indicates that the organization has a
close connection to Progress Texas Institute. Please submit the following:
a. Please fully describe the activities of Progress Texas Institute.
b. Please fully describe how the activities of Progress Texas Institute differ from those
of the organization.
c. Please provide the website address for Progress Texas Institute.
d. Please provide promotional material relating to Progress Texas Institute.
ORGANIZATION: Progress Texas
DATE: February22, 2012
e. Please provide the names of officers, directors and board members of Progress
Texas Institute.
f. Please fully explain if Progress Texas Institute has been granted exemption from the
Internal Revenue Service. If so, please provide complete evidence.
14. Please submit a breakdown list showing the percentage of time and resources that the
organization devotes to its activities (For example, this organization is spending 20% of
its activities conducting educational seminars and conferences, 35% of its activities on
fund-raising activities, etc.).
15. We wish to call the organization's attention to section 4.03 of Rev. Proc. 2008-9, 2008-2
I.R.B. 258 states:
.03 Exempt status may be recognized in advance of the organization's operations
if the proposed activities are described in sufficient detail to permit a conclusion
that the organization will clearly meet the particular requirements for exemption
pursuant to the section of the Internal Revenue Code under which exemption is
claimed.
(1) A mere restatement of exempt purposes ora statement that proposed
activities will be in furtherance of such purposes will not satisfy this
requirement
(2) The organization must fully describe all of the activities in which it expects
to engage, including the standards, criteria, procedures or other means
adopted or planned for carrying out the activities, the anticipated sources of
receipts, and the nature of contemplated expenditures.
(3) Where the organization cannot demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Service
that it qualifies for exemption pursuant to the section of the Internal
Revenue Code under which exemption is claimed, the Service will generally
issue a proposed adverse determination letter or ruling.
The attachment to Part II, Line 1 on Page 2 of Form 1024 indicates that the
organization's mission "is to build social, economic justice and grassroots democracy
through community organizing, education, advocacy and electoral politics in Texas."
The infotmation submitted with the exemption application does not contain sufficient
information in detail to fully describe the organization's past, current and proposed
activities. Therefore, please submit a much more detailed description of those activities.
Please ensure to include the following:
a. Please provide a detailed description of each activity.
b. The date, location, and content schedule of each event.
c. Copies of materials distributed to the audience at each event.
ORGANIZATION: Progress Texas
DATE: February 22, 2012
d. Please fully describe what resources the organization uses to gather information for
Its activities.
e. Identify the educational materials that were used by presenters at each event.
f. The names and credentials of the instructors.
g. If speeches or forums were conducted in the event, provide detailed contents of the
speeches or forums, names of the speakers or panels, and their credentials. If any
speakers or panel members were paid, provide the amount paid for each person. If
not, please indicate that they volunteered to conduct the event.
h. The names of persons from the organization and the amount of time they spent for
each event. Indicate the name and amount of time they spent on the event. Indicate
the name and amount of compensation that was paid to each person.
16. Form 1024 indicates that the organization will conduct get out to vote activities
including registering, recruiting, educating, mobilizing and turning out voters in critical
elections. Please provide the following:
a. Please provide more details pertaining to each of these activities.
b. Please provide a list to show locations, date and time for each of the events.
c. Please fully explain who on the organization's behalf has conducted or will conduct
the voter registration or get out to vote drives.
d. Provide copies of all materials published or distributed regarding the activities,
including copies of any voter guides.
17. Form 1024 indicates that the organization will coordinate a voting rights project to
monitor and promote public policy as well as play a watchdog role in election oversight
and protection.
18. Please fully describe the activities that the organization conducts that influence
legislation. Please ensure to give detailed examples on how the organization educates
and! or v.ill educate the public concerning key legislation and the positions of political
candidates and elected officials on that legislation.
19. Please fully explain if the organization and/ or its officers, directors and board members
engaged and! or will engage in business dealings with any political candidates and! or
elected officials or an organization that is associated with the candidates and! or elected
officials (i.e. renting office space, providing access to a membership list, etc.). If so,
describe the relationship in detail and copies of any contracts or other agreements
documenting the business relationship.
20. Has the organization conducted or will it conduct candidate forums or other events at
which candidates running for public offices are invited to speak? If so, provide the
following details and nature of the forum including:
a. The names of candidates invited to participate.
ORGANIZATION: Progress Texas
Ai....:J _- - .--'"'
DATE: February 22, 2012
b. The names of the candidates who did participate.
c. The issues that were discussed.
d. The time and location of the event.
e. Copies of all materials provided and distributed at the fonun, including any internet
or advertising material discussed or used at the forum.
21. Describe in detail the organization's fundraising through mail solicitations, email
solicitations, and personal solicitations. Please submit copies of all solicitation materials
that the organization distributes.